


A New Routine

by afteriwake



Series: All Of Time And Space [25]
Category: Doctor Who, Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-24
Updated: 2012-08-24
Packaged: 2017-11-12 18:47:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/494470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After coming back home, Amy, Sherlock and their daughter settle into a new nighttime routine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A New Routine

**Author's Note:**

> I have a deadline looming for when the next big bang story is getting posted, so I’m trying to slip in a few more stories of them before the family moves back into 221B Baker St.

Amy woke up and sat straight up, perspiration on her brow and her heart thudding in her chest. It was another nightmare, the same one she’d had since contact with Sherlock had been broken while she was in captivity, the nightmare that she would be there forever. Knowing that things happened differently in a parallel universe only added to it. Sometimes she dreamed of that place, and the dreams felt so real she wondered if she was actually living them. Tonight, though, it was the old one that had woken her up while she was still in captivity.

She turned to look at Sherlock. She knew he was going to wake up soon; both of them were light enough sleepers that a sudden movement from one woke the other up. When Melody cried it usually woke both of them up, and they took turns checking on her and taking care of her needs. And sure enough, she saw him open his eyes and lift his head up from his pillow, turning to look at her. “Another nightmare?” he asked.

She nodded slowly. “Yeah. I’m sorry I woke you up.”

“No need to be sorry,” he said. “Would you like to talk about it?”

She shook her head. “It’s the same one I had before that I told you about, the one where you never find me and I’m trapped in the base all by myself because the army leaves, and I’m trying to find Melody and she’s nowhere to be found.”

He got out of bed and moved over to her side as she swung her legs out over the side. He sat next to her and held her close, and she shut her eyes and relished the feel of him next to her. She wanted to be as close to him as she could, as often as possible, until the day one of them died, and she prayed that day was a long time coming. He didn’t need to say anything to help her; just being there was enough.

After a few moments Melody began to cry, and Amy smiled slightly. Whenever she had a nightmare it followed the same routine: she woke up, then Sherlock, then Melody. She moved out of Sherlock’s embrace and went to their daughter, lifting her out of the crib and bringing her back to the bed. “I hope she sleeps better once we get back to my home and she has a room of her own,” Sherlock said with a slight yawn as Melody continued to cry, though she quieted down a bit.

“She probably will,” Amy said with a wider smile. “I just hope I can sleep well knowing that she’s not in the same room as us.”

“I think we’ll all manage well enough.” Sherlock leaned over and kissed Melody’s forehead. “Since we’re both awake, do you want me to make her a bottle while you hold her for a while?”

“Yes, please,” Amy said. Sherlock got off the bed and left the room, leaving the two females alone. Amy looked down at her daughter and smoothed her hair back. “Daddy’s getting you a bottle,” she said, though Melody continued to cry softly. Melody was nearly two weeks old now, and she seemed as set in this routine as her parents. She would get a bottle, drink a bit, and then go back to sleep, and by then Amy was ready to finish off the night until Sherlock woke up around six in the morning, and then she’d linger in bed for a half hour or so until she got up to take a shower and make breakfast.

Sherlock returned about five minutes later and handed to bottle to Amy, who gave it to Melody. Within seconds Melody calmed down and began drinking the bottle. Sherlock sat down next to Amy again and watched his daughter. “I’m glad I’m here for this,” he said quietly, running the knuckle of a finger down Melody’s cheek gently.

“Even though you never get an entire night’s sleep?” Amy said, looking at him.

“Yes, even so,” he replied. “You know I didn’t sleep through an entire night before her arrival.”

“Yeah, I know,” she said with a smile. “I think only twice have I seen you sleep the entire night, and that was when John forced you to take that cold medicine.”

“You remember?” he asked.

She nodded. “I remember everything that happened while I was linked up to that thing. I didn’t even realize I wasn’t actually there doing it. It’s strange, because in my head I know I didn’t actually do it, but I still remember it like I did.”

“I don’t like that that happened to you,” he said.

“I know. But they were just too eager to hurt the Doctor, I guess,” she said with a slight shrug. “There wasn’t anything you or I could have done to stop it.”

“I know,” he replied. “And I am sorry for that.”

“Don’t be,” she replied. “I’m home, we have our daughter with us, and we’re safe. It’s okay now.”

“You still have nightmares.”

“They’ll probably get less frequent as time goes on. I mean, that’s what the psychiatrists said about my dreams of the Doctor. I assume the same would hold true for these nightmares.”

“Perhaps,” he said. He looked down at Melody. “I do believe you can put her back in the crib now.”

“Is she asleep already?” Amy said with a smile, looking down at their daughter, who was in fact asleep. “I guess we bored her back to sleep.”

“Perhaps,” Sherlock said, a smile on his face as well. They both got up, Amy taking Melody back to the crib and Sherlock moving back to his side of the bed. Once Melody was settled in Amy gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and then went back to bed. Sherlock pulled her close to him, her back to his chest, and he pressed a kiss in her hair. “Good night, Amelia.”

She put her hands on his arm. “Good night, Sherlock,” she said, shutting her eyes and slowly drifting back off to sleep, hopeful that the nightmare would leave her be while she got more sleep.


End file.
